Stanford lets more students in tuition-free

Published 5:57 pm, Friday, March 27, 2015

Good news for brainy but cash-poor applicants to Stanford University: Tuition will now be waived for families earning up to $125,000, up from $100,000, the university said Friday.

Stanford also announced that families with incomes below $65,000 (up from $60,000) won’t even pay room or board.

Total savings for the lowest-income undergrads next year? $59,836.

Undergraduate tuition in 2015-16 at Stanford, considered one of the world’s best universities, is $45,729. Room and board is $14,107.

“Our highest priority is that Stanford remain affordable and accessible to the most talented students, regardless of their financial circumstances,” said Provost John Etchemendy, noting that the school’s goal is to help low- and middle-income students stay out of debt.

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“This is excellent news for low-income students who in these times are very much concerned about how we’re going to pay for college,” said Williams, a former foster youth whose mother is on disability.

“Being from a low-income background, it’s amazing that a private institution like Stanford is sensitive to the needs of low-income and middle-income students,” said Williams, who serves on the City College Board of Trustees as the nonvoting student member. “Without a policy like this, there would be no way I could even consider this.”

Told that the University of California also waives its undergraduate tuition of $12,192 for families earning less than $80,000, Williams said she was surprised and would apply there, too.

“These policies are great!” she said.

On Friday, Stanford announced it had offered admission to 2,144 undergraduates out of 42,487 hopefuls, the largest group of applicants in its history. Of those admitted, 16 percent are first-generation college students.

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